The Garrison Fund is the main unrestricted fund of the Community Foundation. Named for the Foundation's history, the Garrison Fund provides support to nonprofits serving Gaston County.

When Garrison General Hospital ceased operation in June 1975, the responsibility for the hospital's remaining assets was assigned to the Hospital's Board of Directors. The Directors sought an arrangement which would guarantee productive use of the money in a way that would continue to serve the charitable, cultural and educational health of the community.

The Garrison General Hospital
The Garrison General Hospital

It was felt that a Community Foundation dedicated to the best overall interests of Gaston County filled a current need in the community and represented a logical legacy of the Garrison General Hospital. The opportunity and potential of such a Foundation was assessed by a team of local community leaders and the hospital Board. As a result, the Garrison Community Foundation of Gaston County, Inc. was born in May of 1978.

Though today we now go by a different name, the Garrison Fund is still very much a part of what we do over 40 years later. Donations made to the Garrison Fund are used to make unrestricted grants to nonprofits throughout Gaston County. Donors that give to this fund annually are members of the Benefactors Memorial Program, where they can request that memorials be sent in remembrance of friends and family during the year. Names of those departed are listed in the Book of Memory as well as in our annual report.

The Garrison Fund is an integral part of our past and our present as a Foundation. To give to the Garrison Fund by credit card, you may visit the Foundation's donation page online and designate the Garrison Fund or you may mail a check to the Foundation, including the Garrison Fund in the memo line.

The Distinguished Youth Enrichment Program (D.Y.E.P.) received a grant in 2023 through the Foundation's Unrestricted Grant Cycle to assist with the cost of food and supplies for their after-school program.